[The Listserve] A stupid idea for you could be a smart idea for the world.

Hello my Listserve friends. I will try to articulate some honest thoughts for you. Sorry if they are disjointed.

Maybe there’s really no such thing as smart and stupid people. If smart people can’t think the way stupid people think as well as the way smart people think, are they really smarter? What makes them smarter if they can’t *also* think the way a stupid person thinks? For example, things like Snapchat or Religion might seem dumb to some very smart people who can’t articulate reasons for their popularity.

Anything worth figuring out is going to take some effort to figure out. Don’t expect to learn everything the easy way. But if you do put effort into learning something beyond a 2 second Google search you might get rewarded in proportion to how deep you dive, so dive deeply and choose your dives carefully.

The best General Advice I can give anyone is “There’s probably something you know you should be doing that you aren't doing. Do that.”

If you see a good move, look for a better one. Never give up believing that you’re capable of improving yourself and your life further. Neurosis seems to be what ultimately holds us back more than anything. Teach yourself to get out of your own way.

Smart people can learn things. Really smart people can intuit things. Learn to listen to your intuition but feed it with a steady stream of facts.

Get a library card. Use it.

Very recently a man named Mick Mulvaney requested $0 to fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the CFTB). The purpose of CFTB is to inform and protect regular people against giant financial corporations that basically make their money by handling our money. This will make it much more likely that banks will be able to defraud their customers. I’d be extra cautious when dealing with any US banks right now. More generally I think this example, small as it is, is a fair representation of the relationship between the big banks and the US Government right now. If there's any news source I'd recommend, it's The Young Turks. Google it.
Well, think carefully about all that. Good night and Good luck!